In honor of the 20th Anniversary of the Andy Warhol Museum, I thought I would feature the ultimate artistic collaboration in this installment of #InvitationInspirations. And what would an homage to the ultimate pop art icon be without pops of color and unexpected twists on the traditional?

In 2013, I was honored to design the wedding invitations of Jazz GREAT, trumpet player Sean Jones and the incomparable Stacey White. This couple is inspired by L-O-V-E. They love bright colors. They love music. And most of all they love each other. I teamed up with the extraordinary event designer Sean Gray of SGI International. Sean’s unbridled enthusiasm and unique perspective gave us a color blocked origami invitation concept with a boxed presentation that exploded into pops of vibrant color upon opening!

The couple’s logo was created to intertwine Sean and Stacy’s names, in the spirit of love. And to tie it all together, we utilized a unique ribbon with a colorful, musical quality. When the bridesmaids selected their dresses, the chose a style from each selected pop of color.

The bride and groom celebrated with their guests at the whimsical and wonderful Jay Verno Studios in Pittsburgh’s South Side and was catered by the ever delectable Common Plea Catering.

We spoke to one of our brides about her experience using CREATE Studios for her wedding invitation, and below is her story.
I was married at the Mansions on Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh in front of a small group of family and friends on October 1, 2011. My husband and I are both writers, so we wrote our own vows, selected poems and prayers together and crafted the perfect ceremony that was unique to us. We knew that our wedding invitations should also speak to the elegance and originality of our special day, and Create Studios was the perfect fit.

At first we met with Jody and told her all about our big day. We then had the chance to touch and feel the papers and quickly saw that we had endless possibilities. We never felt overwhelmed because we were guided based on her expertise. The design of the invitation took shape as an art form: the paper, fonts, ribbon, customized medallion, and envelopes. Create Studios even designed a wedding logo for us that we not only used on our invites but throughout our wedding! The logo is so special to me.

The final product was an invite that no other couple has nor will ever have! Truly authentic elegance that wow-ed our guests. It stirred so much anticipation for guests that the wedding itself had to live up to the invite’s expectations! And it was just as special of a day as the invite promised. I highly recommend Create Studio Invites, and look forward to working again with this amazing company on my next special event.
– Gina Vensel

Gina and Scott are such a beautiful, romantic couple with a ton of chemistry. Their vision for their wedding was close to their hearts; very personal, intimate, and elegant with the scent of red roses and swaths of cream filling the room. Bridesmaids dresses were sleek, black strapless columns. All perfectly appointed to set off the rich, turn of the century interior at the Mansions on Fifth.

CREATE took these romantic cues and went to the drawing board. First, CREATE designed a custom logo using Gina and Scott’s initials; perfectly fitting them together to form one. Next, logo application. Gina is a real head turner. She has an effortless, unselfconscious style; she wears clothes, accessories and make-up with a confidence that only comes from a true individual. This inspired CREATE to emboss the logo, like a piece of jewelry, on a silver seal and apply it to the front of their invitation. A palette of pearlescent black, cream and red stock with a cream satin band tied everything together in a soft, romantic way. We were so pleased with the final result. And, so happy for Gina and Scott.

Lace. It’s feminine, delicate and elegant. And it’s not just for your grandmother anymore! Italian designer Valentino Garavani’s Spring/Summer 2013 collection was all about lace.

In fact, lace and eyelet have been emerging in creative ways not only on designer runways, but also at all of the hottest events around town. Even shoes and purses are seeing a makeover with laser-cut lace accents.

Feeling inspired by lace as a top fashion trend, I wanted to incorporate it into a wedding invite for a special bride in the Pittsburgh area. She planned a Saturday morning ceremony with a reception afterwards at Phipps Conservatory.

For this invitation, I used mixed cream pearlescent and recycled papers for a shabby chic look and added a custom rose logo to add a Victoriana feel. The lace, the invite’s best accent, held the reply card set in place.

The runways this season reminded us that sometimes adding a touch of lace is just the right way to soften a look. We can only hope that this trend sticks around for just a little bit longer.